Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Parallel thinking won’t solve problems in health care

Paul Pender, MD
Policy
November 1, 2019
Share
Tweet
Share

A lot of media attention, including television, print, and online sources, is focused on various plans to revolutionize the delivery of health care in America.  Critics point to medical errors, waste of resources, and lack of access among the numerous factors requiring the replacement of our health care system.  To many politicians and think tank experts, the combination of government support programs (including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security disability) plus private group and commercial health insurance plans no longer meet the needs of the people.  These proposed replacement systems, which are estimated to cost trillions of dollars, would further undermine the relationships doctors have with their patients due to the heavy hand of government. Furthermore, none of the proposed delivery solutions speaks to the disturbing trend of physician burnout and the associated physician shortage that the country will face in the future.  Currently, these parallel lines of policy do not intersect, and physicians are feeling the stress of uncertainty regarding their roles in an ever-changing health care landscape.

In addition to their primary role as healers, doctors are now expected to be data entry experts. Their work product and reimbursement are justified by the diagnostic and procedure codes documented in the medical record. The requirement for documentation shortens the time doctors spend with each patient, and the requisite computer entries seem to take precedence over patient care.  The result is a growing dissatisfaction with the practice of medicine and feelings of depersonalization.

Physician depression and suicide are now major topics of investigation and comment in professional journals, yet the notion of parallel thinking on the subject of physician well being has become apparent.  One school of thought believes that the doctor needs to become more reflective and resilient in the practice of modern medicine.  According to this school, the system in which the physician works and lives must provide the tools (e.g., yoga and discussion groups) to help strike a balance between the commitments of professional and personal time.  An opposing view looks at the world in which doctors are educated and employed as adversarial, decrying the violation of doctors’ human rights due to sleep deprivation, harassment, and irregular breaks from work.  Such a system, according to some physician advocates, blames the victims for the abuses it heaps upon doctors. When doctors feel there is nowhere to turn for help, they become depressed, some to the point of suicide.

The struggle to define a doctor’s role in health care policy and practice must find some accommodation between the demands of the established administrative hierarchy and the individual physician’s needs.  Voices from each camp must be willing to listen and to engage each other in constructive dialogue. If the energy derived from opposing forces can be harnessed toward progress, a crisis in the delivery of health care may be averted.  Let’s try synergistic thinking, rather than parallel thinking, to tackle problems in health care.

Paul Pender is an ophthalmologist and can be reached at his self-titled site, Dr. Paul Pender.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

What physicians should know about good debt vs. bad debt 

November 1, 2019 Kevin 0
…
Next

MKSAP: 28-year-old woman follows-up after a pre-employment physical examination

November 2, 2019 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
What physicians should know about good debt vs. bad debt 
Next Post >
MKSAP: 28-year-old woman follows-up after a pre-employment physical examination

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Paul Pender, MD

  • Why meaningful patient connections matter in medicine

    Paul Pender, MD
  • Global aspirations for value-based health care

    Paul Pender, MD
  • Employer health plans need a makeover

    Paul Pender, MD

Related Posts

  • How social media can help or hurt your health care career

    Health eCareers
  • Fixing our health care system won’t make us healthy

    Christopher J. Frank, MD, PhD
  • Reduce parallel play to provide decent health care for all

    Peggy A. Rothbaum, PhD
  • Turn physicians into powerful health care influencers

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • Those who try to solve health care don’t know the reality on the ground

    Peggy A. Rothbaum, PhD

More in Policy

  • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

    Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

    Holland Haynie, MD
  • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

    Dave Cummings, RN
  • Healing the doctor-patient relationship by attacking administrative inefficiencies

    Allen Fredrickson
  • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

    Trevor Lyford, MPH
  • The CDC’s restructuring: Where is the voice of health care in the room?

    Tarek Khrisat, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the heart of medicine is more than science

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war

      Dr. Daryna Bahriy | Physician
    • Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How women physicians can go from burnout to thriving

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation

      William J. Bannon IV | Conditions
    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the heart of medicine is more than science

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war

      Dr. Daryna Bahriy | Physician
    • Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How women physicians can go from burnout to thriving

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • What a childhood stroke taught me about the future of neurosurgery and the promise of vagus nerve stimulation

      William J. Bannon IV | Conditions
    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...